India Paddle Festival: Local Boys Impress in Junior Category; Spanish Duo Dominate Men’s and Women’s Events

In the inaugural India Paddle Festival held in Mangalore, local lads Raju Pujar, Akash Pujar, and Praveen claimed the top honors in the junior sprint (200m) category, making a clean sweep of the podium. The festival concluded with Fernando Perez from Spain winning the men’s open sprint race (200 M) and Esperanza Barreras from Spain winning the women’s category.

Fernando Perez clinched the men’s open sprint race title with a timing of 2 minutes 37 seconds, followed by Christian Andersen in second place and Daniel Hasyulo from Hungary in third. In the women’s category, Esperanza Barreras emerged victorious with Bianca Toncelli of Italy finishing second and Thailand’s Irin N finishing third.

Commenting on his win, Fernando Perez expressed his delight, saying, “It feels wonderful to win here today. Mangalore is definitely somewhere I want to return to in the future.” He praised the favorable and challenging conditions at the event, expressing confidence in Indian athletes making a mark on international waters soon.

Esperanza Barreras, the women’s champion, reflected on the challenging conditions and her happiness at winning in India for the first time. The competition saw rough waves, but Barreras appreciated the beautiful weather and her experience in the country.

The junior sprint category was dominated by the Pujar brothers, with Raju Pujar finishing as the champion, followed by Akash Pujar and Praveen in the second and third positions respectively. All three boys have been training under the Surfing Swami Foundation, with Raju Pujar attributing his success to the hard work put in during the training.

The day began with a community race, where amateurs’ recreational stand-up paddlers participated in a unique 3km race. This initiative was the first of its kind in an international or national competition in India, with participants from Tamil Nadu securing the top three positions. Selvara San secured the first position, followed by Sujan J and Gokul Raj in second and third place respectively.